Readers Write: Religion, housing, transgender rights

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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I agree with Aaron Brown (“For me and others, reaching well-being means grasping the transcendent,” July 27) that mental well-being requires being in touch with transcendence. This includes atheists, who may be closer to transcendence than fervent churchgoers. Many atheists reject religion out of spiritual integrity. The God they don’t believe in I don’t believe in either, and I’m Catholic. Every school I’ve graduated from — grade school to grad — has been Catholic.

I value nothing more than my relation to divinity and try to strengthen it daily. But I don’t accept religious beliefs incompatible with science. Technology has shrunk the world and informs us, and I’m one of a growing body of Americans who leave institutional religion while still hanging onto spiritual values.

We are a nation in deep despondency resulting from a mass of anxiety-producing headlines. Traditional religions used to provide spiritual fellowship, and we need to find new ways of nurturing relationships while relating to divinity.

My studies and years of reflection have taught me that spirituality is not owned by religion, but is closer to deep psychology. In Greek, the word “psyche” means soul. Our feelings, how we get along with each other and whether we’re kind or cruel — these are what matter, not what we’re told to believe about the inner realm or what is called “God.” Transcendence will always remain a mystery, one that silently resides inside us, beckoning.

Jeanette Blonigen Clancy, Avon, Minn.

This change, passed under Laws 2023, Chapter 61, applies only to FRS, unfairly targeting families and providers who offer 24/7 home-based care. It denies people with disabilities the basic right to choose where and with whom they live. When funding is slashed, homes like mine will close—and people will be forced into institutional settings they didn’t choose, often at a greater cost to taxpayers.

We are not “making too much.” We are living this work. We are the ones who wake up in the middle of the night for seizures, mental health crises, and medical emergencies. We do it with love, not for profit. This is not just about funding. It’s about human rights, dignity, and freedom of choice.

We are calling on Minnesota to stop this before irreversible harm is done. Repeal or delay the 2026 mandate. Preserve flexibility within DWRS for FRS providers. People with disabilities deserve choices — not cuts.

Julie Steinke, Princeton, Minn.

The writer is a family residential services provider and direct support professional.

Here’s the problem: Unless the rebate program is made available by August or September, we will have to decide to take the tax credit and run, or forego the tax credit and roll the dice with the hope we might be eligible for the rebate. Unless the rebate program is opened before this August or September people won’t be able to arrange a purchase in time to take advantage of both.

I would think the governor could move resources to help the Department of Commerce get this program launched by August 2025, wouldn’t you?

Barbara Draper, Minneapolis

I write today as a parent to a trans young adult, a pastor and elected official. The article “Hospitals limit gender care for minors, even in blue states” (July 28) both saddens and enrages me. It saddens me because too many people simply do not understand the pain of gender dysphoria and do not see that when you are talking about puberty, 19 years old is too late. My wife and I were hesitant about it with our son. He was about 15 he said that all he wanted for Christmas was puberty blockers, making it abundantly clear how important it was. We looked into it and started the process with his doctors and therapist. Yes, there is a process to this. Saying “minors are not equipped” to make these decisions is simplistic and misinformed. They are not making these decisions on their own. They are done in thorough consult with their doctors, therapists and other experts in the field. The decision to do it or not should be left there, between the patient, parents and their medical and mental health professionals.

However, I am also enraged because of the way the right is using our young queer people as a sociopolitical cudgel to the point of wanting to criminalize parents like me. I have not been “betrayed by politically captured profiteers” as U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi suggests. That rhetoric is harmful, hateful and needs to be called out and stopped.

Paul Baudhuin, St. Louis Park

The writer is a St. Louis Park City Council member and a United Methodist pastor.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” declared former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Yet today, fear is no longer the byproduct of crisis — it has become a go-to political tool. President Donald Trump aims not to inspire courage, but to have opponents cower before the very fear Roosevelt warned against.

When the most powerful person on earth misuses his office to demonize dissent, punish critical voice, and vilify legitimate journalism as “fake news,” he undermines the very foundations of our constitutional republic. Such conduct is a profoundly un-American affront to free speech.

Former President Ronald Reagan’s quip now rings truer than ever: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’” But the existential threat to our democracy comes not from those trying to help — but from those who weaponize government to silence, intimidate, or rule by fear.

At this moment, patriotism is not demonstrated by cheering the abuse of power — it’s shown by defending the right of fellow Americans and institutions to speak, to think and to challenge authority without fear of government retribution.